Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood

In Kim’s second year of junior high school, the students are forced to work on an airfield south of Pyongyang. They are building a runway for kamikaze pilots flying out of Manchuria back to Japan, suggesting that the empire is in desperate need of planes and pilots. The students live in fetid tents near the airfield. Kim, 60 of his classmates, and their teacher, who insisted on living with his students, occupy one tent. Everyone suffers from “dysentery and diarrhea and chronic indigestion” (126), but they have three meals a day—more than they would be eating at home. They can leave one day a week or have visitors, but most do not. The Japanese students live apart from the Korean students. Kim and his classmates study the progress of the war or Japanese history for two hours a night after the day’s labor.

Because of his blistered and oozing hands, Kim is assigned to work as a gravel-carrier. All work is done by hand. The labor has taken its toll on Kim’s body.

Around 11 in the morning, the young Japanese corporal summons Kim. The corporal is thin, suffering from the same ailments as the laborers he oversees. Mrs. Kim has come to visit. Because visitors are only allowed on Monday, this indicates something serious has happened.

Kim finds his mother in the visitor’s tent. She looks uncomfortable in the Japanese-style clothing that Korean women are forced to wear. Mrs. Kim lied to the guards that Kim’s grandfather is ill to get into the work camp. They catch up. Mr. Kim believes that, despite the Japanese propaganda, the war will not last much longer. Mrs. Kim tells him that Germany surrendered three months ago, and Manchuria is under attack by the Russians. Kim worries about his uncle. Mrs. Kim tells him that America has “dropped some sort of new bomb on Japan, and the rumor is it is very powerful” (131), and the Americans invaded Okinawa almost four months ago.

Because of the imminent collapse of the Japanese occupation, Kim decides to go home. Mrs. Kim produces a school withdrawal form; this is the real reason she has come. She and Mr. Kim wanted to let Kim decide what to do: they do not want to force him to abandon his friends if he does not want to.

Kim rushes off to find his teacher. The teacher says he always wondered when Kim would quit. Kim is confused. The teacher says he always thought that Kim quitting would mean the end of the Japanese war effort; he assumes Mr. Kim has ways of finding out what is really going on. Kim is uneasy, but the teacher assures him that he is safe. He is aware that the war is essentially over. However, he must never speak candidly about the war with any other Japanese people. The teacher gives him a pass, so he does not have to show the camp guards his withdrawal notice. Kim feels genuinely grateful; he wishes his teacher the best.

Kim leaves the snacks his mom gave him along with a note to his friends on his straw mat. As he leaves the tent, the teacher calls him back. He asks if he can use Mr. Kim’s influence to keep him safe and hidden in the aftermath of Japan’s withdrawal. He tells Kim “I help you now […] and you help me later” (136). It strikes Kim that “he is saying this sort of thing to other boys too. To a select few […] just in case” (137). He now remembers that the teacher gave similar passes to other boys. Kim leaves, but he will see the teacher again in Pyongyang after liberation, working as “a member of a Japanese labor gang” (137).

Kim and his mother leave the camp. The guard asks them if someone is dying, and Kim wants to reply, “You and your empire are dying” (138). Mrs. Kim tells him that her father, a Presbyterian minister, has been put in jail after every Sunday service, sometimes for days at a time. Three weeks ago, he came back badly beaten. Finally, she begins to sob and tells Kim that Mr. Kim was taken to a detention camp four days ago. 

In the middle of August, the Military Police and the Thought Police are still holding Mr. Kim and other “politically suspect Koreans” in the detention center (139). Kim stays with his grandparents in the city while he gradually recovers from digestive problems developed at the work camp; the rest of his family are at the orchard cottage.

The police declare that there will be an important radio announcement at noon by the Japanese Emperor. According to the police, the Japanese invented a fantastic new weapon that will end the war. Kim translates the announcement for his grandfather, who does not speak Japanese.

Kim jumps to his feet in excitement. The emperor is surrendering. Kim and his grandparents are overcome by emotion; they break into tears, worried about Mr. Kim. Kim shouts, “If they killed him, I’ll kill every single Japanese in town!” (140).

Kim’s grandfather uncovers a hidden hollow space in the wall. Inside are a Korean flag, documents, and his Korean military insignia. He gives Kim the flag. They replace the Japanese flag they are required to fly outside with the Korean flag; they burn the Japanese one. A crowd gathers in the courtyard, excited by the news. Mr. Kim’s fate is still unknow. Kim goes out into town. They burn the Shinto shrine Kim and his classmates were required to pray at. The townspeople celebrate, burning “bamboo sticks, wooden rifles, and Japanese flags” (142). They set about tearing down every trace of the Japanese in town.

Kim thinks of his father and runs back home. The Japanese priest who lives next door begs them for help; the mob wants to kill him and his wife. At first, Kim and his grandfather reject them. However, upon realizing that Mr. Kim would save them, they agree to let the couple hide in the air raid shelter. The mob comes down from the mountains, where they were burning the shrine, and smashes the priest’s house.

Mr. Kim, meanwhile, in the detention camp, hears of the Japanese surrender. Mr. Kim and others organize a crowd within and without the camp to avoid the Japanese contingency plan: shooting all of the prisoners. They organize a battle plan, but the commandant summons Mr. Kim and the other leaders of the Korean prisoners. The commandant frees them. The he commits hara-kiri: he slits open his belly and orders a deputy to decapitate him. The deputy then shoots himself in the head. Mr. Kim and the others take charge of the prison camp. They disarm the guards, and the Korean prisoners go free. Mr. Kim borrows a bicycle and heads home.

Kim sees his father’s tearful reunion with his parents. He wants to etch the moment into his memory. Kim and his father reunite. He follows him into the orchard. Mr. Kim wants them to arm themselves, not to kill the Japanese, but to defend themselves. There is a rumor of a mutinous Japanese regiment in Pyongyang that refuses to surrender; this makes Mr. Kim uneasy. Kim and his father ride off together on their bikes to make preparations.

Mrs. Kim prays, thanking God for answering their 36 years of prayer since the Japanese occupation began. She breaks down, sobbing. Kim watches his family cry along with her, and he says “We are not going to cry anymore” (150). Kim is eager to begin organizing his fellow countrymen.

In the orchard, Kim polishes his father’s automatic Russian pistol, which was buried there. They have a few guns, but they need more. Men have gathered. He watches a man on a bicycle approach from the distance. One man comments that Kim is “probably the only one among us who has some kind of military training, thanks to the Japanese” (151). The men naively discuss tactics for taking over the police station and government offices in town; the “taking over of power” is “something that none of them has ever experienced or even dreamed of” (152).

Mr. Kim listens to his son’s advice on what to do next. Kim suggests taking over government offices, the police station, and gathering weapons, in addition to surrounding the houses of Japanese citizens to protect them from angry Korean mobs and to ensure they pose no threat. He tells his father, “Someone’s got to lead the people, and you’ve got to take that leadership, sir” (154). Kim excuses himself from the group.

The man on the bicycle, Kim’s doctor, arrives. The situation in town is tense. Neither the police nor the townspeople have made a move. Mr. Kim dismisses his son. Kim goes to the kitchen, where his mom is making food for the men. Kim is impatient with the adults; all they seem to do is talk about action. He thinks the Koreans did nothing to liberate themselves. Mrs. Kim tells him he will understand, one day. Mr. Kim is made the chairman of the “committee for self-rule and public safety” (155). The group puts emphasis on recapturing the country’s infrastructure.

Kim and his father bike to town as the sun sets, avoiding the main street. Mr. Kim tells his son that, in many ways, he agrees with him that the older generations of Koreans have acted cowardly and “let the country get kicked around and, finally, sold down the river, you might say” (157). As a young man, Mr. Kim resisted until he realized it was futile. His father’s generation could have done something, but they did not. By the time Mr. Kim’s generation came to power, Japan’s control of Korea was already cemented in international politics. The Korean people had to focus on individual survival.

Kim tells his father that he does not have to apologize to Kim’s generation: they are all Koreans; they all share in the same destiny. Mr. Kim hopes that Kim’s generation has enough will and strength to avoid making the same mistakes. Kim gravely tells his father that his generation will start with freedom that Mr. Kim’s did not. Mr. Kim looks so sad and solemn that Kim tries to reassure him: “We are all in the making of history together, aren’t we sir?” (158). They agree that they have much work to do, and they laugh together.

Kim’s house temporarily becomes the committee headquarters. It bustles with activity. Things are going smoothly: they have collected more weapons, and they have successfully taken over the fire station, water depot, and electric facilities. Many Japanese civilians have taken refuge in the police station and school auditorium. Young Korean men from the army and volunteer soldiers train other young men how to use the weapons captured from the Japanese; they organize a self-defense force. They establish surveillance and relay lines.

Mr. Kim gives the police chief an ultimatum: surrender within an hour, or the townspeople will forcibly take control. The police chief surrenders. Clutching his automatic pistol, Kim joins his father, the committee, and the self-defense force to the station. Mr. Kim calms the growing crowd of townspeople that joins them: he does not want violence unless the Japanese shoot first. They surround the station.

Mr. Kim ascend the steps of the station alone to meet the police chief. In the deafening silence, Kim keeps his gun trained on the police chief. The chief hands Mr. Kim his sabre, and Mr. Kim announces that he has taken over the station, as well as over “all the public offices and facilities and the properties of the Japanese Empire in our town” (164). The crowd erupts into celebration. Kim runs to his father, who embraces him and gives him the police chief’s sabre. Mr. Kim tells his son, “It is your world now” (164). Kim and his father join in celebrating the taking back of their town, and Kim joins “the ranks of men in the making of history—together” (164).